7522/Paging Dr. Xiang

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Paging Dr. Xiang
Date of Scene: 17 May 2019
Location: Medical Bay - X-men Base
Synopsis: The scientist from the secret facility studying Megatron is pressed for answers about the Cybertronian.
Cast of Characters: Shadowcat, Wolverine, Professor X




Shadowcat has posed:
After phasing Xiang and the team out of the facility, they departed in the SUV, returning to where Kitty was parked. Kitty told the others on the team she would see to Xiang, making sure they had a copy of the information on his family that the mercenary had obtained.

Soon the pair were driving away, with Kitty calling for X-men to come pick them up in the Blackbird ASAP. She had told Xiang she had the capabilities likely to get him back to his family. But she needed the answer to some questions about the facility, and especially about the robot.

Once the plane has landed, the pair take the transport down the tunnel to the X-men base. While someone else gives Xiang a medical checkup, Kitty would impart the situation.

"The AI, Norton Agamemnon, hired people to get a package, which turned out to be material for constructing components. I agreed to help get them to him. He expressed his desire to help against the Sentinels. I had thought he was going to construct something to hold the parts of him that couldn't otherwise leave the servers he was on," Kitty will share.

"Only, when he made the component, it was used to move himself into a giant robotic body. Maybe ten feet shorter than Sentinel. He did with the fanfare of a third world dictator, having the robotic arms in the facility celebrating, and 'All Hail Megatron!' showing up on the monitors," Kitty will say, all of this while Xiang is off being given medical treatment.

"I had the choice of get the humans on the team out as the Sentinels were already bombarding the facility, or try to destroy the robot, Megatron. I took the humans out, and brought Xiang. One of the mercenaries had given him information on his family. I am not positive if he was forced to work there, but that seemed the case. In any event... this Megatron destroyed two dozen Sentinels, though not all of them the large size. Meanwhile, John Doe, the cyborg that the Avengers are holding, sent a SEntinel under his control to talk to Megatron. Tony Stark shared the video with me on the flight back. Megatron is part of a group called Decepticons. Warriors from a planet called Cybertron. I'll play the video for you though they did not say a whole lot to each other. But they did leave a way to be in touch. So I wanted to know from Xiang what went on in the facility. From what Norton said before he got back into his robot body, I gather research on him went into creating the SEntinels. But he seems more like a person, not the simple AI of the SEntinels," Kitty says, concluding the briefing.

Wolverine has posed:
    After the beams of light, the explosions, the madness of what happened, Xiang held on for dear life to those who were helping him escape. His shouting and screaming didn't last long once he had been flown to the SUV via tiny dragon claw, and he seemed distracted when people spoke to him on the return flight, his eyes alternating at times between widening and then narrowing. Sometimes his lips would move to some sort of inner monologue only he could hear.
    But the X-Men tended to him and tended to him well. He was set up in a bed and given suitable liquids. His heart rate was a touch high but after everything that is to be expected. He didn't answer questions too easily when first admitted to their care, but as he came down he started to call for assistance, asking for a phone, for a chance to see his family.
    Logan, for his part, he'd set up camp outside the room with arms crossed and a grim expression on his features. Sure the fella seems like he won't do anyone any harm, but you never know. And the full body scan came back to show a curious mass of electronics surgically added into the side of his neck some time in the past, though recent events had the interface torn free. However now, bandaged up and mostly lucid, he's likely ready to be questioned.

Professor X has posed:
Charles rides the hidden lift down to the base from his study. He drums the fingers of one hand on an armrest of his wheelchair. When the lift reaches the base he wheels out into the corridor. His chair's faint squeaking and creaking seem loud in the metallic hall. Soon the doors to the Medical Bay open and Charles wheels in toward Logan.

Charles listens to Kitty's explanation with a grave look on his face. "We should see what our guest has to say. He may be traumatized. Please be kind with him."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde gives Charles a quick nod. The guest might not be the only one who is a little traumatized. Kitty is practically sick with worry that she's opened up Pandora's box and let something bad out into the world. Her emotions are easy enough to read. Even Logan can smell it most likely, and hear the pounding of her heart. "Hopefully he'll help us figure out how much of a risk it is," Kitty says, nodding.

She smiles to Logan, glad for his presence, and then goes inside the room. "Dr. Xiang?" she asks him. "We'd like to help you get to your family, but we need to understand a few things. About what risk Megatron might pose. But also, we're not clear on your situation with that facility. Were you working there by choice? Or were you being forced to? If your family might be at risk at all, we need to take precautions so you and they can get away to someplace safe," she tells him.

Wolverine has posed:
    The Canadian mutant is there in the hall, leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his broad chest. His expression is grim, clear from the subtle turmoil in his thoughts that something about this doesn't sit right with him. Something just seems wrong.
    But he doesn't voice those concerns, the two people down here with him have earned that much trust. So he nods to each in turn when they reach the room that Dr. Xiang is squirreled away in.
    "Pryde. Charles." A smidge more formal than normal, perhaps with the stranger nearby. He starts to gather hiself and pushes off the wall, arms unfolding as he eyes them and asks, "You want me ta stay out here? Or want me to come inside?" There's a beat as he looks between them, then adds. "Just in case."
    But once Kitty heads in he'll wait for a signal from Charles, to see what the elder statesman of the school thinks might be best. Since really, Logan is not exactly a friendly face to see at the best of times.
    But then when Kitty enters, she'll see the old Asian man seated in bed. The white bandage is in place along the curve of his neck and the hospital gown is covering him along with some blankets. He still seems anxious, pensive, and his thoughts mirror that. They are racing a mile a minute down several paths, a clearly intelligent mind capable of multi-tasking staggeringly easily. And right now...
    He's wondering who these people are, what they want, then trying to consider what would be best to tell them. It's clear he doesn't intend to tell all of the truth. But he can tell some of it for this girl... she saw what happened. There's no denying it.
    "No. No. I was there of my own free will. Volunteers. All of us." Which is mostly true. "I can try to answer..." He hedges, "But first, who are you people?"

Professor X has posed:
Charles picks up on Logan's feeling immediately. "Logan," Charles says quietly. "Would you mind pushing me?" he asks.

<You don't like this at all. What are your thoughts?> the Professor asks Logan.

His expression one of calm concern, when Charles comes into the room after Kitty. He stays out of their guest's mind, but can read much of what is happening for him in his body language

<It's alright, Kitty. Focus on the moment, on your objective. We will deal with the rest after> the Professor sends to Kitty with a sense of confident belief in her.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde has a very straightforward demeanor with Xiang. The young woman has a simple warmth to her most of the time, and seems to be going with her strength in her interaction with the suspicious researcher. "Well, you saw what I can do. So it probably won't come as a surprise... and if you will forgive the use of the expression, we're heroes. Or try to be. We just keep a lower profile than people like the Avengers or the Fantastic Four," she tells him.

"And if Megatron turns out to be someone who is going to harm innocent people, we - I in particular - are going to have to try to stop him. I thought we were helping a newly developed AI have a chance to survive. Obviously he was far more than he let on, and I was pretty well duped," she says, Kitty not doing much to try to hide her emotions on the issue. And the predominant emotion is worry.

"So I'm really concerned about what he might do. I'm hoping you'll fill us in there," Kitty says. She crosses her arms. "If you didn't even know your family was out there, though? I'm guessing maybe it was a little more complicated, your situation? Is contacting them going to put them in danger? If so we can try to help. Remember, the hero thing?" she says, giving a shrug and the smallest of grins at the last part.

Wolverine has posed:
    The Wolverine's thoughts are ever a steady subtle growl, controlled but ever present. In them, however, Charles can read him as he replies, << Something like that happens to someone, they want safety first, and reassurance. This guy... he smells like he's been found out, caught with his hand in the till. >>
    But nothing verbal is said as he simply gets in place behind Charles and pushes the Professor inside. He'll stay there behind the wheelchair, trying to affect that attitude and look of just a menial who has nothing to contribute. A lot of looking around, acting uninterested.
    Xiang, however, is watching Kitty like a hawk. He does spare a glance for Logan, perhaps assuming that might be the stick to her carrot or he imagines good cop and bad cop. But Charles... the doctor looks across the way, eyes subtly narrowing. Where does the man in the wheelchair fit into this?
    But as she speaks Kitty gains Dr. Xiang's eyes entirely, fully focused though a touch blearily as he lost his glasses during the night's madness. He nods his head several times and murmurs, "I will do the best I can."
    "The facility you saw was a closed one. Self-sufficient, rare supply delivery once a year, data uplink then as well. We were asked to conduct our research there... but to do so we had to divorce ourselves from our lives. I've been there the last..." He searches and it takes a moment for him to bring up the number, not from dissembling but from memory loss. "50 years? Give or take. Amazing opportunity."
    That much had seemed true, and Logan hadn't given any insight into it being false. But then Dr. Xiang says. "I knew nothing about Primary Entity. I was the fifth or sixth research scientist brought in. I worked with it only rarely. I was more focused on the practical adaptation of what the others discovered." But as the Doctor finishes speaking, Logan taps his fingers lightly on the left handle of Charle's chair and in his thoughts he says, << That last part was crap. >>

Professor X has posed:
Charles folds his hands in his lap and listens while Kitty and Xiang talk. He considers the man, his demeanour and his careful revelations. He nods when Logan shares.
With a thought the three X-Men share a mental link. <Logan says Xiang is lying about his work.> Charles sends into the link. <And Xiang is cagey. He has carefully told you nothing you don't know so far.> he adds. <If you need to, tell him we can give him over to the FBI and let them sort him out. His reaction will tell us a lot.>

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde's head tilts to the side a little bit as she regards Xiang as if she's trying to figure something out. "I sensed you weren't pleased, back at the facility. As if maybe while you enjoyed the opportunity, you didn't agree with how it was being put to use," Kitty tells him.

She frowns a little bit and shakes her head. "So I thought... ok I /hoped/ that you would be more honest with me about what was going on there. Especially now that Megatron is loose in the world." Kitty's expression is that of someone who knows she is being lied to. "Is he a threat? I cannot imagine fifty years of imprisonment there would give him a very kind outlook towards our planet. And towards the peoples who kept him confined. Do you not think he is a risk to people to have running free? Or do you not care?"

Kitty thinks to the others, <<I'll hold that back as an option for now. I would not be surprised if he figures those responsible would come scoop him up from the FBI before they did anything. Perhaps SHIELD, though it could be SHIELD he was working for, for all I know.>>

Wolverine has posed:
    That is one angle that seems to prey upon him. The idea Megatron is out there and that people might be in danger. And there's a flicker of an old memory in his thoughts, an old stern man with a white mustache in a green uniform. The old man is berating him, declaring what might happen to him for some reason.
    Yet to the doctor's credit he pushes past it and lets a small sigh slip from between his pale lips. "Fifty years to them is nothing." He says that... and it's true. Then he adds, "It's likely already forgotten it." That part, however... definitely a lie. But not malicious, more... whistling past the graveyard.
    He reaches up, his hospital gown shifting on his frame slightly as he tries to adjust glasses that are no longer there. So he purses his lips, frowns, and continues. "Is it a threat? No moreso than some super powered beings out there." A pause, then he continues. "We were able to break open a bank of memory circuits at one point, and display how they perceive the world. The compression and storage is amazing, so much in so small a space. But it took us three years to put them in some semblance of order, and another two to separate out what we believe to be... dreams, of a sort. But Primary Entity, we estimated was roughly..."
    He shakes his head and frowns, "Six million years old."
    All comes across as true, but it is truth that might well be advanced to try and shock Kitty off her game, and to give information that isn't exactly what she is looking for.

Professor X has posed:
<Yes, his concern or lack of will give us insight into who he works for.> Charles sends. <At least he has a conscience. That may be your best angle. That and his pride in the work and wonder at the Primary Entity.>

Charles listens a bit longer. <Be excited about the age, and use the same terms he uses.> Charles coaches. <Let him think he is reeling you in.>

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde lets her eyes go a bit wide at the mention of how Megatron is. "6 -million- years old?" she repeats. "The amount of power that would take over that lifespan alone is pretty staggering," Kitty says. "So I would think that a compression algorithm would follow heuristical approach that would also allow for fast retrievals, which should allow you to align the memory partitions by age quite easily? How are they organized instead that it took so long to piece them back together?" she asks. Getting truly tech geek and able to speak the lingo, and probably see the implications, faster than Xiang himself would have.

She will give him a chance to respond and then ask, "But he is still a machine, even if one that thinks. He must have core programming that drives him. That controls his value decisions. The actions that took place when he returned to his body were those of someone who wished to be worshiped by the masses. It leaves me very worried about what his value judgments are based on. No one may be safe out there if this Primary Entity means harm. My family may be at risk. Your family may be at risk. Wherever anyone is."